Joey Barton has moved to clarify his famous tweet about Neymar in 2013.

Barton, an avid Twitter user, described the Barcelona ace as 'cat p*ss' and labelled him as the Justin Bieber of football in a comment which has since come back to haunt the Burnley midfielder.

The Brazilian, who netted 39 goals in helping the Catalans win the treble last term, has continued to terrorise defences alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez this season in what is arguably one of the most formidable tridents in history.

The 24-year-old tormented Arsenal in Tuesday's Champions League win at the Emirates, and the Talksport presenter took a moment to tease Barton about his past musings, though the ex-QPR man insisted that his comments were merely tongue in cheek.

“Who’s improved dramatically – Neymar or Bieber?! There’s an argument for both," he said on Talksport. “He’s definitely improved, Neymar, without a shadow of a doubt. He’s got better.

“If you take into context what I said: I was saying not at the level of Messi or Ronaldo. I don’t think anybody who is of sane mind would say that he is. Obviously, as I have a habit of doing, I just try to make fun of situations and obviously the Justin Bieber-Neymar call was a bit tongue in cheek.

“Do I think he is capable of getting to that level? Well he is certainly improving, but will he be better than Messi in time? No I don’t [think so] is the honest answer."

Shane Callaghan

Shane is a Dublin-based sports writer who swapped the football pitch for the press box upon learning that he was better with a pen than with a round bit of leather. Prior to joining HITC, Shane enjoyed spells with Sports Mole and Goal.com among others, while he was also club reporter for Irish football club Drogheda United.